Your Daily wrap: PM Modi’s Nepal visit, controversy over Taj Mahal’s locked rooms, and more

◾ The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo after findings of the three-member committee investigating the Ranchi Airport incident of May 7 “prima facie indicate inappropriate handling of passengers by the IndiGo staff thereby resulting in certain non-conformances with the applicable regulations”. The committee probing the incident, where a specially-abled child was denied boarding by an IndiGo employee, has submitted its report to the DGCA.

◾ Just six days ago, as the controversy over the 22 locked rooms in the basement of the Taj Mahal was raging—inside the courtroom and outside—the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) released some photographs of these cells. On May 12, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had rejected a petition seeking a fact-finding inquiry into the “history” of the Taj Mahal and also opening of the doors of its “22 rooms” to see “the truth, whatever it is”. After the court order, ASI officials had maintained that there is no secret in those rooms, they are just part of the structure, and are not unique to the Taj Mahal, but several Mughal-era mausoleums built at the time—including Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi.

◾McDonald’s said Monday that it has started the process of selling its Russian business, which includes 850 restaurants that employ 62,000 people, making it the latest major Western corporation to exit Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February. The fast food giant pointed to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, saying holding on to its business in Russia “is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald’s values”. The first McDonald’s in Russia opened in the middle of Moscow more than three decades ago, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was a powerful symbol of the easing of Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union.

Political Pulse

◾Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav joined hands with his nephew and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections earlier this year. Shivpal was elected from Jaswantnagar on the SP symbol. But soon after the polls, the old rift between him and Akhilesh resurfaced and he accused the SP of shutting him out of alliance and legislature party meetings. In an interview, the veteran leader talks to The Indian Express about the discord with Akhilesh, Azam Khan, and his plans for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Read here. 

◾In January 2014, with the Lok Sabha election scene heating up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, had announced: “Congress Mukt Bharat! This is not a mere slogan but the firm determination of the people of India.” Eight years have gone by since then with Modi and the BJP now in complete charge at the Centre. The party, which was in power in seven states then is now the ruling party in 17 states and one Union Territory, either on its own or with allies, restricting the Congress to just two states, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The question then is: Now that the BJP’s rule covers almost 50 per cent of the country’s population, how relevant is the “Congress mukt” slogan for the party? Will it have the same game-changing effect on the electoral scene, as some BJP leaders said it did in 2014? Read here. 

Explained

◾Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said that the 21st Amendment to the Constitution to curb the presidential powers will be discussed with the Attorney General’s Department on Monday so that it can be submitted to the Cabinet for approval. The 21st Amendment is expected to annul the 20th Amendment, which gave unfettered powers to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after abolishing the 19th Amendment, a provision that had made the Parliament powerful over the president. Here’s a look at what it will entail.

◾Severe heatwave conditions have been consistently reported over large parts of India since the beginning of the summer season in March. On Sunday, the mercury touched nearly 50 degrees Celsius in some areas of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, a day after Jacobabad in neighbouring Pakistan had recorded 51 degree Celsius. This year, March and April saw early and unprecedented heat across India. March was the warmest and April was the fourth-warmest in 122 years. Though heatwave over large parts of north and central India is an annual phenomenon in May, the maximum temperatures in areas of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir have been unusually high. Here’s all you want to know about the phenomenon.